HGE401 Discussion Forum

Hello,my name is Yiheng Huang,and I also have an English name Jesse.I don't mind which one do you prefer.
I come from CHINA,which is a beautiful and full of amazing things country. I would be very happy if you want to travel to CHINA.
I majored in civil engineering when I was an bachelor student.And then I used to be an engineer after I gratuated from my university.
However,I don't like concrete and the construction evironment then I transfer my interests into hospitality such as hotel management.
I hope that I can make a progress in next two years.

1.   Telfer goes back and forth into discussing the idea of being a good host and being hospitable. She also draws a striking difference between private hosts and commercial hosts. According to Telfer, a good host may be hospitable if, he/she provides appropriate services to make guests feel comfortable and is attentive to their needs but they would lack the skill that would make them a good host because of lack of qualification. This is where the commercial sector has an edge over private hospitality, it has the monetary means as a motivation but also the appropriate skills to provide to be a good host (not a good hotelier necessarily). She further explores the monetary drive behind the services provided in the commercial hospitality and if it can be called as true hospitality since they are being compensated for it.
In my opinion true hospitality is achieved when the purpose of the tourist for his or her stay is fulfilled by the hotel, for instance, business guests should be adequately assisted in terms of provision of conference rooms and early check-ins, similarly when a guest is traveling with family for holidays they could be provided with entertainment, pool facilities, and many more appropriate services. By following the said practices of understanding what the guest requirements are we as hoteliers with our skills can be good hosts and practice hospitableness.

2.   To begin with, we must play our strengths and understand what's unique to us.
Once we have successfully identified that we can move towards building a career in hospitality.

Opportunities in the hospitality sector are ever-growing but there is demand for quality workforce, not quantity. As guests become more aware and technologically advance they expect a certain level of services to be provided. It's not just important to be good at interviews, it is also equally important to have a resume that stands out. The first interaction with the employer is through the resume presented, it should be appropriately descriptive in terms of the requirements of the job. For example, if the job is for the front of the house the skills that the employer might be looking for are attentive, good communication skills and charming engaging personality. Another important thing to note is that hospitality isn't just restricted to hotels; it's a much broader term. It is very important to take up challenging roles and careers cross over multiple organizations and effectively "zigzag" rather than proceed in a linear manner within one organization or even job type as stated by Kate Walsh, Michael C. Sturman, and Bill Carroll in their book called Preparing for a Successful Career in the Hospitality Industry.


3.   In the hospitality industry, we define professional in terms of characteristics portrayed by the person whilst carrying out their duties. These characteristics can be judged by looking at how the person interacts with his/her colleagues, guest, and surroundings. Confidence portrayed through behavior is one of the essential factors in judging professionalism and confidence comes from the development of skills, knowledge, interaction with professional, analyzing and understanding situations. Other ways by which we can identify a professional in the hospitality industry are grooming standards and the ability to provide a high level of service.

Thank you!

Warm Regards,
Shruti Sharma.

1 Telfer has defined the word hospitableness as a quality of being friendly and welcoming. He has clarified the difference between a private host and a commercial host. A private host is hospitable to some chosen set of people, without any intention to earn money whereas in commercial hospitality the guests are un-chosen and the hospitality is being provided in return to the payment a guest has made. Then he has focused on being an honest host which means that there must not be a motive behind being hospitable, instead a host must be hospitable by heart and not by any intention. Because a motive deteriorate the actual meaning of hospitality.

2 Hospitality is one of the fastest growing industries of society. It does not only offer great salaries but it also offers a great career as the growth rate is very high in this industry. To step into the industry one must be having some sort of previous experience. Also the salary acts as a great motivator because if you are being paid well only then you will give your best to achieve company’s goals. Even this industry opens up various ways for personal growth as well, because when you will be working with different set of people on daily basis you will get to know how to manage them efficiently and it will adds on to your skill set.

3 Professionalism is defined in terms of how someone is dealing with his colleagues, customers and his general behavior when on the workplace. One of the factors that works as the judgment tool while talking about professionalism is CONFIDENCE. It is how someone behaves when in a group which is familiar to him as well as at a place totally new to him. Other some factors would be, how good a person is when taking individual decisions or how a person works in the professional team or the level of service which a person provides to his customers.

Warm Regards
Priya

1. According to the quotation of Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin that Elizabeth Telfer produces to state a general base of hospitableness’ concept,  I agree on the idea saying the hospitableness is not only about sharing provisions among people but also being responsible for the guests’ positive energy during their stay. Although hospitableness includes three elements to be admitted as a virtue, Ms. Telfer indicates it is not compulsory and essential because there are still various kinds of other virtues owning the same characteristics that people can take up such as kindness, sympathy, and affectionateness.  As the result, I find it reasonable to come to the conclusion that hospitableness is optional; however, to the commercial host, besides accomplishing all the tasks and enhancing skills, being hospitableness is a top priority.

2. Being successful in hospitality depends a lot on our effort. First of all, we have to build both hard and soft skills by finding and gaining more experience in variable occupations in the hotel industry such as housekeeping, front office, marketing and so on. Additionally,  it is also essential to seek a firm that provides us with many opportunities to challenge ourselves and good colleagues to study from to develop our human capital. Being willing to take up the news things, trying to learn from mistakes and being persistent when going through a troubled time in work is a key to help us to achieve success as well.

3. In the hospitality industry, professionalism is mostly recognized by the hoteliers’ behavior while dealing with their colleagues, customers, and guests. This point is most reflected in the front lobby of a hotel where the clerks receive the requests and even flexibly handle the complaints from customers. Moreover, the indispensable factor building our professional likewise is gaining self-confidence by analyzing to apprehend the problem, improve the knowledge and learning from the outcomes. Other characteristics playing an integral role in building a professional hotelier is the ability to make an independent decision, companionship between colleagues and efficiency when providing a high level of service.

1)   Hospitableness as a virtue, I think that Ms. Telfer is right in some context, but it will be purely based on how an individual looks at dealing with the situation, and if he/she carries the trait of hospitableness in general then they might unknowingly carry all the other traits in them. Ms. Telfer speaks about the human qualities compassion, benevolence, and affection which can be practiced but they need not be necessarily associated with hospitality in general, so she states that it is an optional virtue. Also, she suggests that one can achieve an all-round hospitableness by targeting a group of audience, or by being a good Samaritan and being hospitable to his/her wider circle of friends while the close circle of friends will hopefully sympathize, help in the good Samaritan activity and potentially this alienating activity can result in good friendship.
Similarly, for a commercial host, as they have chosen hospitality as a job, whether hospitableness is an optional virtue when they have developed a habit of being hospitable when on duty and are not able to show any other virtue other than generosity, kindness and so on.

2)   To prepare for a career in hospitality, we need to look at improving our current skill set, enhancing our unique human capital, to be recognized in the current field of work and to add leadership skills.
Whilst today we need to start with searching for a job and company that helps us add leadership skills, with the prospect of meeting our career goals. We need to start gaining trust and respect by doing our jobs well and not just by accomplishing everyday objectives but to overachieve day to day goals. To start where ever we can, even if it means to do non-motivating work and then to challenge over emotional intelligence to accept current needs and plan to build our future.

3)   The behavior of an individual that meets our expectations of being a ‘’professional’’ registers them in our minds as one. This judgment can be made even without engaging in conversation with them, as we recognize a fellow professional based on their presence.  To be professional and not just by being a member of a profession needs a level of knowledge. In the hospitality industry, we recognize a professional by the behavior they show in dealing with their colleagues, guest and their presence in general; This comes with confidence and it is achieved by the level of knowledge and understanding of a subject and their surroundings. Facing familiar or unfamiliar situations; analyzing, understanding and learning from their outcomes. Other traits of a professional are, the ability to take independent decisions, working together as a team and achieving a high level of service, passing on professional knowledge and skills to others.

Thank you.

Warm regards,
Prathamesh Samant